One Piece Volume 18: Ace Arrives by Eiichiro Oda

On the way to Alabasta, Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates are starving. Not only did they eat up all of the food Sanji had put on board to feed them in the party for Tony Tony Chopper, but then he ate all the bait they were using to catch fish.

However, they soon pick up a floater, Mr. Two, Bon Clay, who has eaten the Clone-Clone fruit and is able to imitate anyone perfectly with a simple wave of his hand. As he waits for his own band of pirates to pick him up, he does a little show for them, imitating them with the powers given to him by the Clone-Clone Devil Fruit. It is only as he is leaving that they discover that he is Mr. 2. And thanks to his powers, he can be any of them, as his powers last forever. And, as Vivi reveals, one of the faces he showed them was that of her father, the King. If he impersonated the King, he could do untold amounts of damage.

On their journey they also see the ships of Baroque Works heading for Alabasta, crewed by the underlings of the top agents. But Zolo says to forget them, and remember the bigger picture. They don't need to fight all of Baroque works, just their top agents. He also comes up with an idea to tell each other apart if Mr. Two should impersonate them. They each tie strips of cloth to their forearms so they will be able to tell if they are the "real ones".

They tie up at the dock, and Luffy goes running off to find some food. Meanwhile, the man who wanted to see him, Portgaz D. Ace, has attracted the attention of the local law by passing out in his food at a restauant/bar. He was so still, the owner thought he was dead, having eaten a strawberry spider, a piece of local wildlife that doesn't kill you for a few days, and then you keel over suddenly. But Ace isn't dead, he was merely sleeping. Ace is confronted by a man named Captain Smoker, but their confrontation is interrupted by Luffy, who eats up a lot of food at the restaurant. When he, too, is confronted by Smoker, who he has fought before, he runs off. Ace recognizes Luffy and follows.

Meanwhile, Sanji and the others have stocked up on food and outfits for the desert. Nami and Vivi are dressed like dancers, and the men are dressed like thieves. Chopper isn't too happy, as the perfumes of Alabasta are overwhelming his sensitive nose. But they are surprised when Luffy inadvertantly leads Smoker to the rest of the crew. But Luffy and the others are saved by Ace, who turns out to be Luffy's older brother, now a member of Whitebeard's crew. He also ate a devil fruit, and has fire-based powers from the flame-flame fruit.

After asking after Luffy and fighting the navy men chasing them, Ace gives Luffy a blank piece of paper and tells him to hold onto it... someday, it will lead Luffy to him. Luffy thanks him and has Vivi sew the paper into the band of his hat. Meanwhile, the top agents of Baroque works meet at the Spiders Cafe, which, unbeknownst to them, is owned by Ms. Doublefinger, the partner of Mr. 1. Tonight, they will all finally meet their boss, Mr. Zero, whom none of them have met before.

Luffy and the rest travel to Luba, a formerly thriving town in the desert dried up by an overuse of rain powder elsewhere. The rain has to come from somewhere, so when the powder was dumped in the capital, the rest of the country became a desert. They are in Luba to meet the head of the rebels, a man named Kozo. But on the way there, their food supplies are stolen by Evil Herons, and they are attacked by a desert dragon. Luffy defeats it, and they eat it. But Luffy eats some crazy cactus along with his dragon meat, and goes wild until Chopper sedates him.

They walk into Luba and meet the last inhabitant, Toh Toh, who just so happens to be Kozo's father, and Vivi's old friend. Vivi relives her meeting with Kozo, and Toh Toh tells her that the rebels have moved to Katorea. Vivi wants to stop the rebels, but after a night spent in Yuba, Luffy refuses to go on. Why contact the rebels? Why not just fight Baroque Works? If they do that, all the problems they caused in Alabasta will be over. The others think that despite Luffy being a fool, he has a point. So they abandon their mission to talk to the rebels and go after Baroque Works instead.

And at the meeting of Baroque works, Mr. Two Bon Clay realizes he knows the Straw Hat Pirates that are endangering Baroque Works' mission, and he says he will take care of them. Mr Three disputes that, but pisses off the leader, Mr. Zero, who drains most of the water from his body and drops him into an Aquarium for the Bananagators to feed on, which are huge 100'+ long alligators. Soon though, the Straw Hat Pirates will cease to be a problem...

This book was a little darker, but still mainly fluff and humor. And still amusing. The Straw Hat Pirates seem to spend as much time arguing with each other as they do fighting enemies or tracking down Baroque Works. But even most of Baroque Works are humor fodder, and the names... As you can tell, the men are named after numbers, but the women are named after holidays. (Ms. Doublefingers being 1/1 or New Year's Day). I am still interested and still reading, although this book wasn't as comic as the one before.